Page 72 of A Duchess Bound
“Now that you have told her, maybe she will consider giving you more freedom to choose yourself,” Gerard said kindly. “While she may have been hurt by your words, Lady Dorothy is also a reasonable, young woman. I am certain that she will think carefully about your words and consider how to make you happy again.”
Lady Bridget shook her head. “You do not know her.”
Gerard smothered a laugh.
“She acts as though she is my mother, and she is not. Besides, I do not need a mother,” Lady Bridget said. “I need a sister.”
Gerard nodded solemnly.
With a great sigh, Lady Bridget climbed to her feet and smoothed her skirts. “Thank you for listening to me.”
“Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
His first, instinctive thought was that he ought to find Dorothy and offer her some measure of comfort, for she must be as upset as Lady Bridget. He could not, though.
Comforting Dorothy would be seen as too intimate, too compassionate for a man like him. But perhaps, he would send her a letter later and offer his support.
“No, there is nothing that I need,” Lady Bridget said, sighing. “Unless you know someone who can make my sister see reason.”
“Alas, I do not.”
Lady Bridget wiped her eyes roughly and gave his handkerchief back. He shoved it unthinkingly into his jacket. There was a part of him that found Lady Bridget to be dauntingly frustrating.How could she be upset?
He supposed that he understood how the attention might be stifling, but at least her family cared about her! She would never know what it was to be utterly alone. Not like he did.
He would have given anything to have siblings who cared for him. It was far better to have a young miss who protected you too much than to have no one at all.
“Good night, Your Grace,” Lady Bridget murmured, making no move to leave.
It took Gerard a heartbeat to realize that the imperious, young miss had dismissed him. “Good night,” he said.
He continued along the path, as though nothing had happened. Gerard furrowed his brow. He could not go to Dorothy.
But he wanted to.
He curled his hands into fists and clenched his jaw. Although he held reservations, he wanted to comfort her. Gerard told himself that he would simply check the waiting carriages and see if Dorothy might be in one. If she were, he would offer comfort. If she were not, he would have tried.
When he reached the carriages, one of the doors was already open. Feigning ease, he approached the carriage. “My lady?” he asked hesitantly.
“Your Grace?” Dorothy’s broken voice emerged from the darkness.
Gerard peered inside the carriage, his heart clenching at the sight of Dorothy, alone and disheveled. Her eyes held a weariness that made Gerard suspect she might have been crying.
“Your sister is in the gardens,” he said. “I…I am sorry that you quarreled.”
Dorothy laughed unevenly. “I cannot fault Bridget for wanting freedom.”
“But you can if she is cruel to you,” Gerard said. “I admire your protectiveness and how much you care about your family. Lady Bridget does not realize how fortunate she is to have people who care about her! So few have that.”
Dorothy’s eyes searched his face for a long moment, looking at him as though she was seeing him for the first time. “Thank you,” she said.
Gerard blinked, taken aback. “Ah. You are welcome, but your gratitude is not needed. It was simply an observation.”
“A kind one, though.”
He did not know what to say to that. Silence settled between them, and although Gerard often detested the quiet, he found this one companionable. Welcome, even.
And he did not know entirely why.
